Era of War
by Als4137
Summary: The clan of Konoha is at war with the clan of Sound. Deaths are a common occurance now, and nobody can trust the other. Everyone lives in fear, and nobody knows what may happen the next day.


DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO

_Italics_ mean what the person is thinking.

AN: Definite pairings: SasukeSakura, TentenNeji, NarutoHinata, and InoShikamaru. Slightly AU fic. The setting and all is pretty much the same, but they're not ninjas. I could have written it with them as ninjas, but I decided not to. They're around the age of sixteen. Warning! This is not a happy fic! It might not seem sad now, but it definitely will be later on! Remember, nobody likes a flamer!

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**Era of War**

**Premonition**

Sakura rubbed her arm uneasily. She was one of the few female warriors of Konoha. Fortunately, she was also one of the top healers. In this time of war, warriors and healers were needed, and only a few were supplied. Most warriors were men, but nowadays, the clan leader, Tsunade, would accept any volunteers. Clan Konoha was against the Sound Clan. Their leader, Orochimaru, had declared war upon the peaceful clan. He was ambitious, and he wished to dominate Konoha as well. The pink-haired warrior shifted her sword strapped against her back. "I really hate guard duty…"

Sakura was currently standing atop the south wall, keeping watch for any attempts of invasion or attack. Her guard-mate, Naruto, was pacing uneasily as well. She called to the blonde, "Ne, Naruto-chan, do you feel it?"

Naruto turned towards her, biting his lip. "Hai…I don't like it, either."

Sakura loosened the straps that held her sword tightly in place. "Well…be on your guard anyway."

Naruto clasped a hand on his twin daggers hanging off his belt. "Hai…"

Sakura rubbed the upper, left part of her arm. It had the symbol of a leaf tattooed on there. It signified she was a part of the Konoha clan. She stiffened as she remembered Sasuke. Naruto noticed and called softly, "Thinking about the bastard?"

Sakura bit her lip and shut her eyes tightly, but she nodded slightly. It had been over three years the Sound had declared war, and Sasuke had left over a year ago in search for power. Sakura missed him terribly, as he was one of her best friends and more. The three of them had been put together to be trained, and throughout their years together, they had become best friends. Naruto reminded her sternly, "But if we see him during battle, you cannot hesitate to kill him. He has betrayed the village to Orochimaru."

Sakura nodded. Tears brimmed in her eyes, but she wiped them away hurriedly. Naruto placed an arm on her hand. "It was hard for all of us. I…I grew close to the bastard, too."

Sakura tried to smile, but she failed to. Naruto looked up at the sun. "We only have a few minutes left. How about after this, I treat you to ramen?"

Sakura shook her head. "You should ask Hinata."

Naruto and Hinata had been going out for a while, and they were happy. Naruto replied, "I'm already taking her out for dinner. Come on, Sakura. Ramen!"

Sakura rolled her eyes, knowing the blonde would persist. "Okay. One bowl of ramen."

After fifteen more minutes, two other warriors came to relieve the warriors. Naruto called up to Neji and Tenten, "Well, have fun standing up there in the cold! I'm going to get some warm, nice, hot ramen!"

Sakura nudged Naruto slightly. "It's not nice to gloat at them like that. They get the night shift, you know."

Neji glared sullenly at Naruto. The blonde merely waved back and skipped off, dragging Sakura with him. After a few bowls of ramen, Naruto invited Sakura to his wooden house, and she agreed. At Naruto's house, he laid out his twin daggers lovingly. "Time to polish Hinata and Ramen!"

Sakura giggled at the ridiculous names. She ran her fingers lightly over the names engraved on the hilt of the daggers. In a quick motion, Sakura whipped out her sword and laid it on the table gently. Wordlessly, she ran her fingers over the word engraved in her hilt. _Sa…su…ke…_Naruto smiled, trying to lighten up the mood. "Remember when you first became a warrior about two years ago?"

Sakura nodded. _A year before Sasuke left…we all became warriors…we all received our weapons, named them, and received our tattoos. It was such an honor…_Naruto continued, "I was so happy. I named my weapon after the things I love most!"

Sakura laughed softly. "Remember what Sasuke-kun called his longsword?"

Naruto smiled, his eyes soft. "Hai. He called it Sakura."

_Sasuke sighed with satisfaction. "We have our weapons now, ne? We're full fledged warriors. We've come so far."_

_Sakura smiled at Sasuke happily. "Hai…Ne, what are you going to name your weapon?"_

_Sasuke paused. "I don't know yet. Maybe Itachi, or something."_

_Sakura cringed as she heard Sasuke's older brother's name. He had wiped out the Uchiha family easily, and he fled Konoha after the massacre. Sakura quickly replied, "Well, I'll name mine Sasuke!"_

_Sasuke offered Sakura a rare smile. "That's kind of you."_

_Sakura blushed and stood up. "Well, I have to go. Ja, Sasuke-kun."_

_Sasuke raised a hand. "Ja."_

_The next day, the three reported to Tsunade's office. Tsunade sat, paintbrush held over parchment. "What have you named your weapons?"_

_Naruto stepped forward, smiling widely. "Hinata and Ramen!"_

_Tsunade made a noise similar to a snort and beckoned to Sakura. She blushed and murmured, "Sasuke…"_

_Tsunade waved her hand at Sasuke. He remained where we was and replied monotonously, "Sakura."_

_The pink-haired warrior turned to Sasuke. "Hai?"_

_Sasuke replied, "Sakura. I name my longsword Sakura."_

_The person in question blushed. It was an honor to name one's weapon after a loved one. "A-Are you sure, Sasuke-kun? Don't you want to name it after your mother, or something?"_

_Sasuke shook his head. Tsunade wrote it down and beamed at the three. "Very well. You are dismissed. Report to me tomorrow, and I'll assign you jobs. Take care of your weapon; it should serve you for a long time._

Sakura smiled at Naruto softly. "I remember…the day we all named our weapons…the day we became warriors…"

The two sat in silence, reminiscing. Sakura checked the clock. "Naruto-chan…I have to go…"

Naruto nodded. "Do you need me to walk you home?"

Sakura shook her head and smiled. "No, it's okay."

She bade Naruto good-bye and headed towards her own house, a few blocks away. _It's been a year since otousan and okaasan died._ She stopped by the graveyard and refreshed the flowers on her parents' grave. Sakura moved on to her house and stepped in, closing the door softly after her. _Now, I am lonely. At least I still have Naruto._ She walked across the dimly-lit sitting room into the kitchen, and pulled out some bread and cheese. Sakura ate leisurely, not thinking about anything in particular. She cleaned up the dishes in silence and had curled up on the sofa to polish her sword when a messenger was banging on her door. "Haruno-sama! Tsunade-sama needs you!"

Sakura sheathed her sword deftly and dashed to the door. Wrenching it open, the messenger beckoned to Sakura, panicked. Sakura followed the messenger quickly. _What could Tsunade-sama want?_ A few minutes later, Sakura stood in front of Tsunade's desk, breathing lightly. Tsunade immediately stood up. "Sakura…You know that Hinata and Kuruna were guarding the east wall, yes?"

Sakura nodded as Tsunade continued, "It seems that a battle was fought on the wall."

Sakura nodded again, not understanding what Tsunade wanted. The clan leader took a breath. "Kuruna was killed. Hinata is injured badly."

A year of experience had trained Sakura not to over-react, but she bit her lip. Tsunade stood up and led the healer into a room down the hall. Kuruna's body was covered with a cloth, and Hinata lay on another bed, breathing harshly with Naruto by her side, face ashen. Sakura checked the large gash running from Hinata's collarbone to her ribcage. Quickly, Sakura took care of it, and she assured Naruto with a smile, "Hinata should be all right."

Naruto smiled his thanks at her weakly. Next, Sakura moved on to Kuruna's body. There was nothing interesting on the corpse; whoever killed her did it with a clean cut. Sakura sighed with pity. Kuruna was excited about being a warrior; she was one of the few female ones, too. _I guess she was just too inexperienced…_Sakura stood up and took off her gloves with another sigh. "Poor girl…"

She turned to Tsunade. "Has her family been alerted?"

Tsunade shook her head and replied softly, "She had none."

Sakura felt another wave of pity wash over her. "Poor thing…"

Tsunade reclaimed her usual brisk self. "Well, we will hold her funeral on Saturday."

The pink-haired warrior nodded and discarded the gloves on her way out the door. She gave Naruto a pat on the shoulder as she exited the room. Tsunade stayed a bit longer to check on Hinata one more time, and then she walked out, following Sakura. The leader called, "Sakura."

The warrior turned back. "Hai?"

Tsunade took a breath, and Sakura noticed she was trembling. "Sakura…I'm not young anymore."

Sakura cringed. It was a sensitive subject for the leader, and Sakura was confused. _Why would Tsunade-sama bring it up?_ "Sakura…the future of Konoha lies in the young people's hands."

Sakura nodded. "I know, Tsunade-sama."

Tsunade held up a hand. "I will not live out to see the war end."  
Sakura was shocked. She protested, "But, Tsunade-sama, you aren't that old!"

Tsunade shook her head. "Sakura…I will not die of old age."

Sakura stiffened. "The Sound warrior who killed Kuruna and injured Hinata…that person is loose within Konoha."

Sakura stifled a scream. _In Konoha! The children! What will we do?_ Tsunade continued, "He is an expertise. Sakura, I am going to track him down myself and ensure the safety of the children of Konoha. I don't know the outcome, so prepare for the worse."

Tsunade looked extremely tired to Sakura, as if she had aged immensely during the few minutes. Sakura protested, "I can go after him, Tsunade-sama! You can stay-!"

Tsunade interrupted, "No. I must track him myself. He is an expertise."

Sakura was intelligent; she found a flaw with Tsunade's decision. "Tsunade-sama…surely he can't be that great…he didn't even kill Hinata…And you usually send the veterans after other warriors."

Tsunade sighed. _I knew Sakura would figure it out…that something is wrong._ Tsunade shook her head. "Do not question me, Sakura."  
Sakura bowed. "Hai, Tsunade-sama. But, surely, you won't get killed?"

Tsunade shrugged. "I don't know. Nobody does."  
She walked away towards her office, leaving behind a perplexed Sakura. Tsunade sighed with relief. _I recognized that cut…it was from Kabuto's broadsword. He and I have a price to pay. I will enjoy this._ Tsunade opened the closet tucked away in the back of the room. Pulling out a belt with multiple sheaths on them, Tsunade buckled it over her tunic. _This will be interesting…_

Next, the legendary warrior patted each of the sheaths to make sure the daggers were still inside. Tsunade rummaged through the closet and armed herself with another brace of daggers strapped onto her right thigh. _I was known as the daggers master anyway._ She hid a few daggers underneath her tunic, under her armlets, and under her leggings. Finally satisfied, Tsunade strapped her sword on her back. She murmured, "All ready, I assume? Okay. Time to pay, Kabuto."

Tsunade opened the window in her office and leapt out easily. After pausing a moment, she started towards the forest under the east wall battlements. She reached the forest in a few minutes, and after looking around tentatively, Tsunade disappeared into the foliage. Tsunade grumbled softly, "I wish I had brought a tracker with me. Oh well, I wanted to fight Kabuto on my own anyway."

Soon, Tsunade smelled smoke and heard low voices. She stopped. _If I can hear him, he can hear me._ Tsunade crept in closer until she was only a few feet away from the clearing where the glow of a small fire was seen. Tsunade's eyes widened as she realized Kabuto was not alone. The grey-haired warrior was talking to someone in the shadows. "Well, we did a fine job today, ne? We've infiltrated the village of the Konoha clan!"

The figure in the shadows did not move or talk. Tsunade bit her lip. _I want a fair fight with Kabuto._ Tsunade crept behind Kabuto and gripped one of her daggers. She pressed it against Kabuto's neck and hissed, "You and I will fight, Kabuto."

Tsunade heard Kabuto chuckle. "Tsunade. I knew you would come find me."

Tsunade pressed the point until it drew blood. "Shut up. Tell whoever in the shadows that we will have a fair fight alone."

Kabuto shrugged. "Very well. You heard her."

Tsunade released Kabuto, and the two stood up. Tsunade unsheathed her sword and brought it to a defensive position. Kabuto unsheathed his broadsword. He taunted Tsunade, circling her. "You're getting old, Tsunade."

Tsunade snapped back, "Old I may be, but young are the warriors of this clan."

The figure in the shadows shifted slightly, as if disturbed by this news. Tsunade ignored the presence and loosed one of her daggers at Kabuto. Kabuto jumped aside but got grazed on the arm. He smirked triumphantly. "Tsunade, Tsunade…the old hag of the clan Konoha!"

Tsunade retorted, "You Sound Warriors are pathetic. I don't know why Sasuke would join you."

Kabuto's eyes flitted to the warrior in the shadows before landing back on Tsunade. "Because we are so much more powerful than you."

Tsunade threw another dagger, but Kabuto managed to dodge that one. "Small wonder why you haven't defeated Konoha then, ne?"

Kabuto hissed back, "We will! One day, with our ultimate weapon of destruction, we will defeat you!"

Tsunade launched a third dagger which embedded itself in Kabuto's arm. "I'd like to see that. What is this weapon?"

Kabuto smirked as he wrenched out the dagger and flung it at Tsunade, who caught it. "He is a warrior."  
Tsunade replied, "A tool, I assume. You make him into a killing machine with no heart?"

Kabuto lunged at Tsunade with his broadsword, and they locked blades. He remarked wryly, "I knew that you weren't the clan leader for no reason."

Tsunade kicked him onto the ground and swung downwards furiously. "To think a healer like you could take side with Orochimaru…"

Kabuto writhed away as Tsunade's sword bit the ground. He grabbed some dirt and flung it into Tsunade's eyes. She clawed most of it away and managed to dodge most of the stab from Kabuto's broadsword, but her left arm was cut. She hissed with pain as it bled sluggishly. Kabuto smirked and advanced on Tsunade. "Not so confident, are we?"

Tsunade dropped down and launched two more daggers before leaping up and cutting Kabuto's shoulder. Kabuto yelled with pain as the daggers embedded themselves in his kneecap. As he fell, Tsunade brought her sword into a downward cut which took off the flesh on his left shoulder. As Tsunade pinned Kabuto down with two more daggers in his hands, he screamed, "Help me, you fool!"

The figure in the shadows stood up, and as Tsunade turned her head to protest, "Hey, we said-!"

He thrust his longsword into Tsunade's chest. Blood spilled from Tsunade's mouth as she stuttered, "Sa-Sasuke?"

He pulled out his longsword, face impassive as blood speckled his clean clothing. "Hai."

Tsunade closed her eyes and fell face forward onto the ground to the side of Kabuto. Sasuke wrenched out the daggers impaling Kabuto and sneered softly. "Baka…letting the old woman get you like that."

Kabuto shook his head, but he didn't retort. "Dispose of the corpse."

Sasuke pushed the body into some undergrowth unceremoniously. Kabuto sat up painfully. He started instructing Sasuke to fetch him herbs to fix his wounds with. Sasuke complied silently.

Meanwhile, Sakura paced worriedly on the balcony of her house. _What did Tsunade-sama mean? Where is she? I saw her walk into the forest…_Finally, the pink-haired warrior could stand the silence no longer. She strapped her sword to her back tightly and started towards the forest towards the east. Within half an hour, she reached the fringes of the forest. Sakura took a deep breath. _I should have taken someone with me…_

She plunged into the forest without another thought. Sakura crept through the forest quietly. She winced whenever she stepped on a twig, or when she made unnecessary noise. Suddenly, Sakura heard voices and saw the glow of a fire. Her nose also picked up a rather unpleasant smell: blood. Sakura peeked into the clearing. There, she saw Kabuto and a dark-haired warrior. _Who is that?_ The dark-haired warrior's back was faced towards her, but suddenly, he turned around and stared directly at Sakura. She nearly screamed. _Sasuke! Sasuke! It's Sasuke!_ She merely stared at him as he slowly stood up and grabbed her arm. Kabuto chuckled. "Well…another warrior of Konoha."

Sasuke dragged Sakura to the fire without any hint of recognition. Sakura was too stunned to fight. Kabuto smirked. "What have we here? A female warrior? Just like your precious Tsunade."

Sakura recovered her voice and hissed, "What have you done to Tsunade-sama?"

Kabuto turned to Sasuke and smiled. "She wants to see Tsunade-sama."  
Sakura felt Sasuke shift uncomfortably. Kabuto stood up and motioned to Sasuke. "Keep a tight hold on her, and we'll bring her to see…Tsunade."

Sasuke hauled Sakura to the undergrowth. He forced Sakura's head towards the corpse. "Look."

Sakura stared at the body. She couldn't keep her emotions in check any longer; Sakura screamed. In a mad frenzy, she broke away from Sasuke's contact and brought up her sword. She screamed, "You killed Tsunade-sama, you bastard, you betrayer, you who left the village, you who I gave my heart to, I'll kill you, I'll kill you, I'll fucking kill you!"

Sakura lunged at Sasuke furiously. The Uchiha had barely enough time to bring out his sword and parry Sakura's mad thrust. He almost lost his balance, and spun away as Sakura swiped at him with her sword. Sasuke snapped back, "It wasn't me. It was Kabuto."  
Sakura was beyond listening. She lunged at Sasuke again. He sighed and stepped to the side this time, and he disarmed her. Sasuke pushed Sakura against a tree and trapped her by slamming both his hands around her to form a cage. He murmured, "What will you do now, Sakura-chan?"

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AN: Ah…new story! Well, I hope you like it. That was an abrupt ending, though…Should I raise the rating...? And a hint...I'm only giving a hint because a reviewer, I think, grew quite distressed about this...Tsunade does not die. I know it doesn't make sense, but it'll be clarified in the next chapter, so be patient, okay? 


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